DICKINSON — With the grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library happening this week, notable politicians and figures are expected to visit.
In an

interview

with the North Dakota Monitor, TRPL Executive Director Robbie Lauf said Members of Theodore Roosevelt’s family and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are among those expected to make their appearance. On June 20, the White House’s Freedom 250 made an

announcement

that President Donald Trump will also visit July 1.
There have been visits to the TRPL from the Trump administration in the past. In July of 2025, Vice President JD Vance

visited the construction site

with his family where they had lunch catered by The Farmhouse Cafe in Medora. To visit Medora, Vance

flew into the Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport

, according to KFYR-TV. A

post

made on a Dickinson-based Facebook group inquired on June 6 whether President Trump would also land in Dickinson for a possible visit to Medora.

“Air Force One”

is the call sign used for any aircraft when the president is aboard, meaning the president could use a smaller aircraft capable of landing in Dickinson. However, according to the United States Air Force, the president often uses the VC-25A aircraft as Air Force One. The VC-25A is a specialized version of a Boeing 747.

When President Obama departed on an

international trip

in 2009, CBS News reported that Air Force One needed at least 10,800 feet of runway for its takeoff. The Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport has only 7,301 feet on its main runway according to its

website

.

The Dawson Community Airport in Glendive, Montana, is another airport nearby Medora. Yet, it faces the same limitations as the airport in Dickinson. According to airport manager Craig Hostetler, the Dawson Community Airport’s main runway only has a length of about 5,400 feet and would not be able to handle the weight of a Boeing 747. Hostetler suggested that President Trump would probably fly into either the Billings-Logan International Airport or Bismarck Municipal Airport.

“Air Force One cannot land here,” he said. “Most airports in eastern Montana and western North Dakota probably would not handle it.”

Matthew Remynse, the airport director in Bismarck, confirmed that the Bismarck Airport is capable of handling a Boeing 747 and that Air Force One had landed there in the past. He noted that while President Trump visited the airport in 2017, a runway reconstruction project caused the airfield to be a little shorter than needed. So instead of the specialized Boeing 747, the president flew into the airport aboard a smaller Boeing 757.

“There are only a handful of airports in North Dakota that can handle the 747, so a lot of planning goes into where to land,” Remynse said. “Past presidents have flown into Fargo and Bismarck because those are the airports with the infrastructure.”

With the airport in Bismarck being about 140 miles away from the TRPL, it could take close to two hours for the president to be driven to Medora. Remynse explained that former President Barack Obama used a helicopter to travel from the airport to Fort Yates when he visited in 2014. Although Remynse said he can’t speculate on what the President will do when he visits Medora, he said flying on a helicopter was an option.

Whether or not President Trump will use Bismarck Airport in July, Remynse said he’s always “beaming with pride” whenever a president lands on his runway.

“It’s always an exciting time when the president flies in,” he said. “If we’re the airport of choice, we’re happy to support the Secret Service and the Air Force in their mission.”

Mike McCleary / Bismarck Tribune

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On this day in 1930, North Dakota bankers reported that nine bank robbers had been sent to prison after a year of holdups and burglaries across the state.

Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:

Six Daylight Holdups, Two Night Jobs In Macfadden Report

The bank bandit business in North Dakota since July 1, 1929, has paid out about $13,555.08 to its tradesmen, but has sent nine of them away for long visits at the state penitentiary in Bismarck.

From July 1, 1929 to June 15, 1930, close of the fiscal year for the North Dakota Bankers association, there were six daylight holdups and two night burglaries in the state, the annual report of W. C. Macfadden, Fargo, secretary, shows. Mr. Macfadden released his report for publication Saturday.

Up to June 15, the holdups had resulted in a total money loss of $12,356.08, but Friday two men held up the Commercial State bank at Sarles and escaped with about $1,200, bringing the grand total to $13,556.08.

The total loss resulting from daylight holdups in 1929 was $5,619.50 exclusive of damage losses. Attempts to obtain money in two night burglary attacks failed. So far in 1930 the loss amounted to $6,735.58, taken from the Citizens National bank at Wahpeton, May 29, plus $1,200 lifted at Sarles Friday.

The first bank case in the 1929 fiscal year of the association was at the First State bank of Denhoff Aug. 2, when $800 in currency was burned and the vault damaged beyond repair in a night time attack. Nobody profited by that deal—not even the bandits, for though they escaped, they couldn’t take the charred money with them.

Then came the Gwinner affair when four men broke into the Gwinner State bank under cover of night, cut open the vault, and then were forced to flee down a road ahead of an impromptu, but indignant posse which sprinkled them liberally with shot. All four of the bandits were captured and all of the money recovered. The four men, Thomas Kerwin, John Mitchell, George Smith and John Grant, each of whom won a plentiful aliases were sent away to Bismarck and will be there for some time to come.

Sept. 10, 1929, the First State bank of Alamo lost $4,000 in a daylight holdup. Oct. 2, the Security National bank of Taylor was visited, and robbed of $1,619.50. None of the money has ever been recovered.

Three men held up the bank of Garske Oct. 7, 1929, were chased by townsfolk and ended up in Bismarck. The three convicted were Nicholas Schneider, Jimmy Russell and Louise Vivier.

John Peters was the next man to be sent away on a bank bandit charge. He entered the penitentiary convicted of having held up the Douglas State bank on Nov. 22. The full amount of money was recovered from Peters as it was from the Garske bandit trio.

March 19, 1930, Nicholas Mead shot and killed the cashier of the First National bank of Courtenay and for several days was in possession of illicit funds obtained by the process. Mead, however, was caught, convicted, and sent away for life on a first degree murder charge.

The Citizens National bank of Wahpeton is still loser by $6,735.58, the result of a daring daylight attack May 29 when three young men held up the bank employees, the board of directors and certain patrons, scooped up the money, walked out the door and to their car, escaping across the South Dakota border.

The two recent bank attacks, neither of which is included in Mr. Macfadden’s report because they will fall in next year’s tally, are the Hurdsfield affair and the attack at Sarles Saturday. Ernest Swandlow, youthful bandit, who attempted to hold up the Farmers and Merchants bank at Hurdsfield last week, was caught the same day, has confessed.

Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.

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